Improvement in seed-planters



J. ROBB.

Grain DriH.

Patented Oct. 12,1852.

PATENT rricn.

JAMES ROBE, OF LEWISTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEED-PLANTERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 9,333, dated October 12, 1852.

To all who zn it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES Bonn, of Lewistown,in thecounty ofMifflin and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Seed-Drills; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full,clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accom panying drawings, forming a part'of this specification, in which Figure l is a plan or top view, the drill-teeth being raised. Fig. 2 is a vertical section, taken transversely of the seed-trough and looking toward the devices for operating the discharge-slide, the drill-teeth being represented as down in red and up in black lines; Fig. 3, a detached plan, exhibiting the undulated disk F and rollers b b for operating the dischargeslide.

The same letters of reference denote corresponding parts throughout the several figures.

A A are the propelling and carrying wheels. B the frame, and O the draft-bar or tongue.

D is the seed-trough, made with compartments for the separate supply or feed of the seed through the several depositing-tubes, and provided with an ordinary admission and shutoff perforated slide, E, at the bottom, the said slide reciprocating, as usual, in a longitudinal direction of the trough, and being so operated by an undulated disk or serpentine cam-wheel, F, attached to the propelling-wheel A. This undulated disk is formed of a continuity of double inclines, a, against which, when the feed-slide E is to be operated,rollers b b, connected to either extremity of a double vibratory arm or lever, Gr, press, the said double arm being attached at its one end by pin d to the feeding-slide E, and hung centrally of its length on a fulcrum or pivot branching from a gear-lever, H, which at its one end is connected to the frame on fulcrum and its the other end laps on or looks into a screw or worm, c, wound round a barrel, I, that in being turned, or partly so, in either direction causes the worm c to work backward or forward the lever H, and consequently presses in or out of gear the rollers b-b with the double inclines a of the undulated disk, whereby the slide E is made to reciprocate, as described, for discharge of the seed, or has its action stopped and the discharge cut off, as may be required. When the rollers 12 b are in gear with the double inclines a the latter in revolving along with the propelling -wheel A give a continuous vibratory movement to the double arm G, and consequently, by the attachment of the double arm with the slide E, a reciprocating action to the latter, either roller I) alternately ascending and descending the several double it rollers b b from, contact with the double inclines a, the slide E shuts off egress and remains stationary by reason of the double inclines a rotating clear of the rollers b b. A curved rack, J, gearing into a pinion, I, on the one end of the barrel I and operated by a hand-lever, K, serves to turn the barrel 1 in either direction according as the worm c is required to work in or out (for the purposes specified) the gear-lever H, the hand-lever K lying horizontal, or nearly so, when the discharge of the seed is cut oft", and being raised toward a "ertical position when the rollers b b are in gear with the undulated disk F. The barrel I in being turned, simultaneously with its action on the slide E, operates on the depositing-tubes or drill-teeth to elevate them at the same time that the discharge of the seed through the slide E is cut OE, and to lower them again when the discharge is open or reestablished, cords or chains 0, secured to the barrel and'drill-teeth, serving to lift the teeth, which, on the barrel being reversed, drop of their own weight, any one of the teeth being thus capable of rising without affecting the rest, as and in a similar manner is common in other machines. Butin order, without the application of springs, (which are objectionable,) to give the drill-tooth a backward as well as an elevating movement for the purpose of more readily and without detriment passing over an obstacle, I further hang or connect the drill-tooth as follows:

M is the seed-conducting hose, attached to the seed-trough and passing down within the drill-tooth.

N is the drag-bar, jointed to the drill-tooth and front beam of the frame.

0 is a curved guiding arm or continuation upward and frontward of the drill-tooth. It

passes over and rests on an anti-friction roller, f.

P is a rod or lever attached to the back of each tooth for separately elevating it.

The several drill-teeth are similarly constructed and connected. The weight of each one and its parts is sufficient to retain the tooth in the soil when the ground is clear; but when an obstacle lies in the way of any one (or more) of the teeth the said tooth or depositing-tube L is not only raised, but thrown back in a curve, whereby it rides more easily and with less risk of damage over the obstacle, the grinding-arm 0 serving to give it when being elevated the curved movement backward, as depicted by the black lines in Fig. 2, while the corde simp y slackens, and after passing the obstacle the drill tooth drops gradually in a curved line back again into the ground. This action ofthe drill-teeth is similar to that of other seed-planters in which springs are employed for drawing the teeth backward during their elevation, but is much simpler, enables the tooth to ride over the obstacle with greater freedom and case, also renders it less liable to breakage, failure, alteration in the strength of its resistance against the soil, or variation in its drop.

I do not claim, exclusively ofitself, giving to the drill-tooth the curvilinear movement specified, as such is old; but

What I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

' 1. Causing the point of the drill-tooth,when

raised out of the ground, to slope backward 

